


A New Home?

by Silverstar706



Series: Loki's adventures with the Dragonborn [1]
Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Marvel (Movies)
Genre: Brainwashed, Dragons, End of the World, Redemption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-17
Updated: 2013-12-07
Packaged: 2018-01-01 22:19:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 19,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1049212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverstar706/pseuds/Silverstar706
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki escapes Asgard to live in Skyrim where he must help the Dragonborn to defeat Alduin and save the world without being caught by his brother and brought back to prison. Loki is on the path to redemption and true freedom but can he keep it up?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> This is basically a Marvel/Skyrim crossover where the planet of Nirn is a realm that the Asgardians don’t know much about. Also I have added into mention some mods I installed on my own game, one of them is a fox companion named Jorin.
> 
>   If you are not familiar with some of the characters from either Skyrim or Marvel or would like some picture references I would like to redirect you to the Reference page I am creating: http://archiveofourown.org/works/1147106  
> It's not done yet but I'm working on it.
> 
> All characters and places belong to Marvel and The Elder Scrolls.

In the rush of his escape Loki was unable to discern much about the planet he had chosen for his hiding place, only that Heimdal would be unable to see him. It was bitterly cold and Loki had not dressed appropriately for the climate, the metal and leather of the armor he had conjured up before he left wasn't doing as much as he hoped against the wind. He ran as quickly as he could away from where he had landed, he was soon worn out and slowed his pace to a walk.

As he passed by an old stone fort he was attacked by a bear, even in his worn out state he was able to stop it with his magic fairly easily. Loki realized with a bit of panic that without the magic of Indun’s apples that the power of his magic would dwindle and his invulnerability would cease to be, he would simply be a magic wielding average human. Even worse, the little bit of wealth he was able to smuggle out of Asgard would not get him far.

He came upon some little farms and he wondered what kind of useful plant could possibly be grown in this kind of weather. As he approached a large bridge over the river a guard turned his attention to Loki “watch it with those spells, mage” he sneeringly commented.

Loki was in no mood to let himself be treated like this and turned the wrath of his icy words upon the guard, “I will watch my spells only when your corpse lies cold on the ground”, the guard simply laughed and walked off.

Loki then heard a voice behind him “you won’t get very far with that kind of attitude”, he turned and came face to face with a muscular woman wearing armor made of dragon scales.

“What does it matter to you?”

“Oh, I’m just saying that even with that powerful magic of yours, you could still wind up dead on the cold, icy tundra of Skyrim if you don’t try making some friends, make enemies and you’ll catch the attention of The Dark Brotherhood”

“How do you know about my magic?”

“Guess I’m getting pretty sneaky, I’ve been following you for a while now.”

“That’s not possible; I would have heard your armor.”

“A friend of mine enchanted this armor with a silencing spell”

Loki then heard a roar in the distance, “That sounds like it’s for me” the mysterious woman continued “now where did that silly fox go” with that she turned aside and let out a shrill whistle. Moments later a snow white fox bounded to her side and yipped.

“So you’re a dragon hunter” Loki commented.

“Sort of, anyway good luck and be friendly” and with that she started off with the energetic fox following close behind.

Loki wished he could have talked to her longer; it’s been a long time since anyone has been friendly to him at all. Even his brother now refused to show him any kind of compassion. Perhaps he would see the mysterious woman again, but for now his only friend was the cold, harsh wind. He made his way along the bridge to the huge gates that led to the city, the slab of rock moved more easily than he expected as he shoved his way through.

Upon entering the city he noticed a woman with dark blue skin, this itself piqued his curiosity. There were two men who were apparently accusing her of being an Imperial spy seemingly only because she was, as they called her, a Dunmer. He quickly stood up in her defense, partly because of how he knew what it felt like to be an outsider and partly because of the dragon hunter’s advice.

“You can’t just accuse her of being a spy when your sole argument is based on her race, you don’t have any other evidence to prove this” Loki had little knowledge of the situation but did his best to appear intelligent in the face of these brutes. The dark skinned woman looked at him gratefully.

The one in the more ragged outfit answered his claim “all Elves are the same.”

“In that logic it would be fair to claim that all members of your race are racist and enjoy picking on anyone who does not think, look, or act the same as themselves."

Apparently this struck a nerve “oh really, you think you got the muscle to back up that big mouth of yours?”

“Is that a challenge?”

“Fists only, and none of that magic stuff either” while Loki’s muscle stood no chance against the Asgardian warriors he was far more than a match for this mere human who also wore no armor of any sort, Loki was silently laughing at this fool.

“Fair enough.”

Loki put up his fists and waited for the challenger to make the first move. He couldn’t quite block the first strike that landed on his shoulder above his armor, but he didn’t need to. Loki’s knuckles made solid contact with his opponent’s nose and he heard the bone crack a little. There were a few punches back and forth before Loki bore down on the challenger’s thigh; this brought him to his knees.

“Okay, you won fair and square” even though it clearly wasn’t fair Loki enjoyed the sight of his opponent on his knees. “You’re a pretty good fighter for a mage, the name’s Rolff” and he ungracefully limped away.

The dark skinned woman caught his attention “Thank you, maybe that will teach him to be a little more respectful, my name is Suvaris Atheron and if you ever need a place to stay you are welcome at my house”

“Really?” Loki was surprised at this open display of hospitality, only now did he realize how helpful the dragon hunter’s advice really was “um, actually I do kind of need a place to stay the night”

The house was warm and comforting, Loki explained to Suvaris that he was new here and actually didn’t know anything about the Imperials. Suvaris explained what was going on with the civil war and how it started with the Thalmor and their White-Gold Concordant, how Ulfric Stormcloak started the battle with the Imperials so the Nords could keep their ways.

“So basically it’s because the Nords see Talos as a god and are unwilling to change their ways, while the Thalmor are too stubborn to accept their differences.”

“Basically.”


	2. Clueless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor isn't the sharpest weapon in the vault but he is determined to find his brother, who he loves so dearly.

Thor had come looking for his brother only to become occupied helping a woman with a pet fox fight a dragon. The fox was agile and able to distract the dragon without putting itself in danger. When they defeated the dragon, Thor watched in awe as it’s flesh burned away and streaks of light passed from the dragon to the woman he had helped. He wasn’t sure what happened but he did notice her prowess with that large, unwieldy battle axe she carried.

“I didn’t need your help you know.”

“You should be thankful I helped you.”

“Why? You took all the fun out of it” The muscular woman waved the battle axe around as if it was too boring to let it lie at her side, the fox jumped around with impatience like it was ready to fight another dragon. “Well…” Then the woman interrupted him.

“Don’t you have something to do; you look like someone who has something to do.”

“I am trying to find my brother, have you seen him? He has these big gold horns on his helmet that curve backwards, you can't miss him."

"Even if I did see him why should I tell you, maybe he doesn't want to be found."

"Because he has to come home... He has to."

"Why?"

Thor turned his face toward the ground "He has committed a crime our father cannot forgive and he must be punished."

"That sounds like wonderful parenting, usually when you put a criminal in jail they become even more bitter and more likely to commit more crimes."

"Then what would you have me do?"

"Leave him alone, he needs his space, he needs to find people who appreciate him as a friend and not ignore him."  
"So you know him?"

"I know of him, I know how Odin neglected him and I know how you are.” She brushed her short black hair out of her face as she thought for a moment “Actually never mind that part, anyway he needs real friends."

"How do you know this?"

"I happen to know his real mother, and of course she's been keeping an eye on him, through undisclosed sources. It pains her to see her son treated like that.”

"His real mother?" Thor could hardly believe his ears.

"Leave Loki alone, he's better off here."

"No, I can't leave him, he's my brother."

"No, he isn't, and if you don't leave him alone I'll make you."

Thor was angered by this blatant display of disrespect "Big words for someone like you, you are in no position to stop me."

"Do you know who I am? I am the Dragonborn and I'll show you some big words" with that the Dragonborn let loose the full fury of her voice. It sent Thor flying backwards; he hit a tree with a loud thud. The impact left him dazed and confused, when he regained his ability to stand he tried to find the Dragonborn but she was nowhere to be seen.


	3. A New Friend?

Loki was starting to get suspicious, was the kindness of his new friend that pulled him back from the edge of madness or something else? He could feel the threads of influence from some subtle spell. Perhaps this was what suppressed the evil thoughts that had been wrought upon his brain at the hand of the Chitauri. Loki was annoyed at the idea of being so easily controlled but he appreciated the peace it brought to his world of chaos. He occasionally tugged at the strings of this spell but not enough to break it, he was curious as to what manner of magic it was. It was new and different; he longed to learn this spell and more like it.

He bid Suvaris farewell and went over to the measly market to get some supplies. There were some other Dunmer there that, to his relief, treated him with a measure of respect. Apparently word gets around quick. The Nords weren’t as kind; Loki was startled by a snowball that pegged him in the back of the head and the pieces that fell down into his armor. He turned around to see a couple of giggling children skitter away. No one else seemed to take notice of it but his pride was a little hurt.

Apparently a guard noticed that he was upset and took advantage of it “aw, did somebody steal your sweetroll.”

It took quite a bit of effort to not knock the guard’s teeth out right then and there.

Soon Loki was ready to head out, he couldn’t settle down yet he had to get further away from his landing spot to minimize the chance of being caught. Maybe after a while it would be safe for him to come back.

As he moved further west the weather became more bearable, even pleasant. Then he heard a small animal breathing heavily and yipping while running towards him. When the little fox reached him it started jumping up to put its paws on him and then jumping back.

The mysterious woman he met earlier walked up behind while swinging her battle axe like it weighed nothing “I think Jorin likes you.”

“So that’s his name, but what’s yours?”

“Shanya, and I already know your name.”

Loki didn’t show it but he was panicking a little “really?”

“Yea, also Thor is looking for you” she replied fairly nonchalantly “although I highly doubt that’s gonna happen, he’s about as sharp as his hammer.”

Loki gave a somewhat refrained laugh hoping this meant that she was on his side and not looking to return him to Asgard herself. After Banner had smashed him into the concrete a few times he learned not to underestimate the people he met, guards don’t count though.

“If you had taken the second south road you would have run into warmer climate a lot sooner.”

“Well I’m a little unfamiliar with this place.”

“Then start getting familiar.” He was a little surprised at how blunt she was but, she lived here and knew all about the land, she also happened to know about Thor. She could be a very helpful companion as long as she didn’t plan on turning him over to Thor.

“I guess I’ll have too.”

“You completely missed the hot springs; I’ll have to show them to you later.”

“Oh, okay” Loki kept getting caught off guard by how friendly she was being, why would anyone want to be friendly to him?

They walked quietly down the path side by side while Jorin excitedly chased butterflies that occasionally appeared. Loki could soon see the protective walls of a city that lay ahead. A woman with bright red hair as well as war paint was walking towards them, when she got close enough Shanya engaged her in a short conversation.

“Hey Aela, are you off to hunt something?”

“Actually yes, is seems a group of wolves has invaded someone’s home, and what about you; have you finally found a boy who’s got the guts to follow you on your ‘little’ adventures?”

“What are you inferring? We’re just friends” the words came very quickly out of Loki’s mouth.

“Aw really, we just met and we’re already friends, how sweet” Shanya could see how Loki was looking at her warily and enjoyed staring into those deep green eyes of his.

Aela had started laughing “well anyway, you kids have fun”, and she went on her way.

After Aela had move out of hearing range Loki moved in front of Shanya and stopped her “what was that for?”

“Well, that’s what friends do, they playfully pick on each other, and I never meant any harm by it. You are perfectly welcome to pick on me back; you did say we were friends, right?”

“I guess I did.”

“Good, because I really want to be your friend” did he hear her right, she wanted to be his friend?


	4. Breezehome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Really short chapter, oh well
> 
> Don't try to deny it, we all know Lydia is the most annoying follower there is.

When they entered Shanya’s home they were welcomed by a woman with long dark hair “greetings my thane, and who is it that comes with you?”

“This is Loki, and you know that thing where you’re my housecarl and have to do everything I say.”

“Yes.”

“Yea, could you go hang out somewhere else for the day?”

“Of course” She then got up from the chair she was sitting in and left.

“I thought you said that it was a good idea to be friendly, maybe you should take your own advice.”

“I have a perfectly good reason to be annoyed by Lydia.”

“Oh yea?”

“Yea, she gets in the way. This wasn’t even my choice; she was assigned to me by Yarl Balgruuf when he named me as a thane.”

“Sure.”

“And another thing, she used to follow me around like she had no brain, like she needed to be told exactly what to do.”

“And now?”

“Now I just leave her here.”

“You seem to like being alone.”

“Not really, it’s just that none of these idiots are willing to venture into the places I want to go, that’s why I’ve got Jorin.” The little fox looked up and yipped at the sound of his name “not only is he fearless, but he also keeps me company.” Shanya reached down and petted his head.

“What kind of places do you want to go?”

“I want to explore Nordic crypts and Dwemer ruins, not to mention the fact that I’m still trying to keep the dragons from taking over Skyrim with Alduin as their ruler.”

“Who is Alduin?”

“A dragon… Firstborn of Akatosh, his name literally means world-eater. If it wasn’t for me his return would mean the end of this age, it also means the start of a new age but I like the world the way it is.”

“You don’t have to do it alone, I could help you.” Loki was very much interested in what other information she might give him, but he was also curious to see these little adventures she went on.


	5. Ustengrav

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki you are overreacting it is "just" a spider.

They came to a halt just outside the entrance of Ustengrav.

“Okay so let me get this straight, basically you are the Dragonborn which means you can use these magical words of power just like the dragons do, and the Greybeards send this extremely powerful warrior to retrieve a musical instrument. I just have one question, why?”

“It’s like doing chores, it’s not very glorious but it’s gotta be done. Besides we don’t want some bandit to get a hold of an ancient relic.”

“I guess that sounds reasonable.”

“Okay so… uh… yea… anyway, Loki you should probably watch out for draugr.”

“Care to explain what those are.”

“Um… undead dragon warriors and priests.”

“Oh I see I am to become a rotting corpse in the land of the walking dead.”

“Actually it would be the crypt or tomb of the walking dead.”

“Don’t correct me.”

“Well then get it right the first time.”

When they entered Ustengrav they were pleased to find that the score of necromancers, draugr, and conjurers that were fighting each other and not paying any attention to the newcomers.  
Loki leans over to whisper in Shanya’s ear “if you prefer I could easily cloak us with my magic and we could walk right past them.”

“Sounds like a plan to me” Shanya then gave a signal to Jorin to be absolutely quiet and they walked right past their oblivious and presently occupied foes.

Eventually the tunnels opened up to reveal a large cavern complete with its own waterfall. There was still more tunnels they needed to go through before they could actually go into the cavern, but the view was great.

“Hey could possibly drop that cloak spell, I kinda want to smash some skulls.”

“I’m guessing that it wouldn’t seem fair or fun if they didn’t put up a fight.”

“Exactly.”

“Works for me.”

The occasional draugr that roamed the tunnels didn’t stand a chance against Shanya’s battle axe. When they entered a bigger room Loki spied a puddle of lamp oil and promptly set it on fire, burning the draugr to a crisp right after it had come out of its deep slumber.

Finally they came into the cavern they had seen before and were assaulted by arrows; they weren’t very effective against the magical shield that Loki quickly put up in front of them. The skeletons they faced were even less of a challenge than the draugr. Jorin took the leg bone from one and brought it to Shanya, who chucked it across the room with the little fox happily chasing after it. She turned her head to where Loki had sat down on a throne in the corner of the room.

“Okay, your highness, are we done here or are you going to host a dance or something.”

“Well let’s not stand around here all day, there is more to explore.” 

Loki hopped up from his seat to follow Shanya to the bottom of the cavern where a wall covered in dragon script waited for them. Shanya stepped up to the wall and apparently she somehow learned one of the words just like that.

“Okay, got it lets go.”

“How, exactly?”

“Don’t ask me hard questions.”

“Um… sure.” From the look on Loki’s face he was obviously pretty confused, which has been happening a lot since he came to Skyrim.

“I’m not entirely sure how I can learn the words of power, it just happens. It’s kind of feels like I have somehow always known the word and then when I see it, I remember it, like I was born with the knowledge.”  
“I guess that makes more sense.”

They walked back up to the throne area and crossed a bridge to a space that contained three large stones with strange symbols all over them and at the end of that area there was a tunnel with three gates.

Loki quickly told his observations to Shanya “the fact that there are three stones and three gates can’t be a coincidence. I would think that it has something to do with those words of power since they would want it to be impossible to get through without that power, that way only the Dragonborn would be able to get through. After all, they wouldn’t want some bandit to get a hold of it.”

When Shanya stepped in front of one the stones it glowed red and the corresponding gate opened but when Loki stepped in front of another stone nothing happened.  
“I think I need to use the whirlwind sprint shout, but I would have to use it twice in a row.”

Loki blinked and he missed it, she was already on the other side of the gates, which now stayed open.

“Looks like that worked pretty good.”

Shanya looked ahead through the tunnels and then looked back “are you afraid of spiders?”

“No, why?”

“How about really big spiders?”

Loki stopped in his tracks “how big are we talking about?”

“Um… they are bigger than Jorin.”

“Okay, now I’m too curious to be afraid.”

“Don’t let them bite you; they’ll turn you insides into a mush.”

“I would be more worried about Jorin.”

“Good point, I’ll tell him to stay clear.” Loki continued walking forward as Shanya gave Jorin a signal.

“That fox is smarter than some of the people I know.” Shanya chuckled in agreement.

They walked into a large room covered in spider webs with several huge occupants. The eight legged critters were soon under attack, they moved faster than most foes but they were still no match. Loki floundered backwards as a massive spider dropped down from the ceiling, was able to fire a fatal spell before he fell into the web. He struggled to free himself to no avail, he was trapped and even worse one of the spiders had spotted him and was moving in for the kill. Shanya was too far away to save him, but as luck would have it Jorin sprinted to his rescue. The speedy little fox darted around the spider while ripping its legs off. The eight legged critter was soon reduced to a single leg and Shanya came in to put it out of its misery.

“You okay, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I nearly died!”

“Jorin wouldn’t let that happen” Shanya then freed him of his sticky bonds.

Loki reached down to scratch Jorin behind the ears in thanks “you are a very smart fox.”

They moved into the next area and Shanya pulled a lever that raised the gate. They walked into a large room with a path that was between two bodies of water. When they walked down the steps they were startled by four strangely carved pillars that rose out of the water on each side. At the end of the room there was a stand with a craved hand jutting out of the top, all that was in it was a letter.

 

Dragonborn--  
I need to speak to you. Urgently.  
Rent the attic room at the Sleeping Giant Inn in Riverwood, and I’ll meet you.  
\--A friend

 

“That’s it; I nearly got my insides slurped up by a spider for that?!”

“Calm down you’re still in shock, I wonder how they got past the puzzle.”

“I am not in shock!”


	6. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is no way Loki could have escaped by himself.

The walk to Riverwood was nice and quiet. Loki pondered at the idea that someone had cast a spell on him. He was annoyed but at the same time he was afraid of it wearing off. The peace of mind it brought him was comforting; the spell was also suppressing his memories of the Chitauri. He began to wring his hands in thought when he felt something on his finger, something metal, it wasn’t there before. He looked at his finger but saw nothing, he touched where he knew it was and could feel it, could see the impression on his finger where something invisible was stopping it. An invisible ring that was enchanted with a spell that gave him peace of mind? He didn’t realize he had stopped and that Shanya was a few paces ahead of him, she turned around to see him fiddling with his hands.

“Loki, what are you doing?”

He grasped the ring he knew was there and slipped it off his finger; as soon as it was off he could see it. The pain and the memories rushed back with a force that brought him to his knees. Shanya was soon over him with Jorin worriedly whimpering at her side. She picked up the ring from where it had been dropped on the ground. Loki was about to black out when she put it back on his finger.

“Don’t ever do that again.”

“Where… where did it come from?” Loki gasped for breath as he fought the migraine that was creeping throughout his skull.

“I know this one shout that can freeze time; I used it to put that ring on your finger right after you landed in Skyrim. The spell that was placed on the ring was designed to slowly take effect so you wouldn’t notice it.”

In his dazed state Shanya was able to wrap him in a hug without much resistance. Jorin put his paws on Loki’s shoulder and started licking his face. Why would anyone try to help him, he had been such a lost creature before he came here. Shanya had gone out of her way to give him peace of mind and to bring him back to the light side; it has been a very long time since he had felt cared for. He tried to find the words to say thank you but he couldn’t; he could barely think, instead he simply gave in to Shanya’s embrace.  
***

Loki didn’t realize he had passed out until he woke up with Jorin resting on his chest; his nose was very close to touching Loki’s chin. He ran his fingers through the soft white fur in return he received a delighted yip followed by lots of puppy kisses. Shanya pulled the little ball of love off Loki so he could sit up. Loki turned his head so he could gaze into Shanya’s caring blue eyes.  
***

 

Thor had searched everywhere for his brother but just when he thought he might be getting close, just when he thought he could sense Loki’s presence he found it was far from it. A half cat half human mage was casting spells at the base of a long dead tree. He introduced himself as J’zargo, the cat-mage was very confident although he did admit he had a long way to go before becoming a powerful wizard. Thor was starting to become bored with this conversation right as the cat-mage mentioned his brother.

“I have heard of a very powerful wizard who is not from around here, he has a different style of magic. Perhaps we may one day meet and trade spells.” J’zargo took a moment to think “I have also heard that a member of the Thieves Guild helped him escape from prison.”

“What is the name of this wizard?”

“Hmm… was it Lokir… no that was that idiot from Helgen that I heard about.”

“Was it Loki?”

“Ah, yes that’s his name.”

“I am looking for him, do you have any idea where I might find him”

“If I knew where to find him I would have already met him. Although if the rumors are true I would ask around the Thieves Guild, he might even be hiding there.”

“Tell me where to find this thieves guild.”

“I would start by finding Brynjolf in Riften; he’s a member and has been ripping off travelers for a long time now. His newest gig is that falmer blood elixir that he’s trying to pass off as a powerful potion.”

“Thank you, I will head over there immediately”


	7. Distrust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've changed a bunch of the dialogue so that Loki can be part of the conversation. I have also changed some of the plot line so that Shanya lives in Skyrim and was not captured by the imperials but was still there when Alduin attacked Helgen.

Loki and Shanya arrived at Riverwood about midday and proceeded to the Sleeping Giant Inn, Shanya quickly found the innkeeper.

“Um... hello, can we rent the attic room?”

“Attic room, eh? Well… we don't have an attic room but you can have the one on the left.”

“Oh... okay, sure” Loki liked to see that look of utter confusion on Shanya’s face; it was cute and funny at the same time.

When they walked into the room Loki immediately laid down on the bed, Jorin hopped up to lie on his back. The innkeeper came in right behind them and shut the door.

"So you're the Dragonborn I've been hearing so much about. I think you're looking for this.”

She immediately handed Shanya the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller. Shanya just stood there with her mouth hanging open; this wasn’t the kind of person she was expecting.

The innkeeper continued "we need to talk. Follow me."

“Wait, what?” Loki whined “That means I have to get up.”

“Aw… too bad.”

Jorin jumped off and padded around impatiently. Loki made an effort to get up as slowly as possible in the hopes to slightly annoy her. The little group of travelers followed the innkeeper to another room that they assumed was hers. Once in the room she asked Loki to close the door. When he did she opened up the back panel in her wardrobe which led to a secret basement. The four of them were soon gathered around a table in the secret room. The innkeeper introduced herself as Delphine and then directed her attention to Shanya.

"The Greybeards seem to think you're the Dragonborn. I hope they're right."

“Well I would think so, otherwise I am very confused and the greybeards are a bunch of liars.”

"I hope so. But you'll forgive me if I don't assume that something's true just because the Greybeards say so. I just handed you the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller. Does that make me Dragonborn, too?"

“You found a clever way to get past the puzzle, so what?”

“Actually” and of course Loki had already figured out how he could have gotten past the puzzle “the stones were clearly activated by the specific type of magical energy that emanates from Shanya. Since that magic was originally wielded by the dragons any part of a dragon would emanate the same magic. Therefore one could simply place a dragon scale in front of each of the stones and they would be activated.”

Delphine looked a little surprised “That’s exactly how I got past the puzzle.”

Shanya turned to question Loki “how did you figure that out?”

“I was able to tell what kind of magic the stones were activated by; both you and your armor emanate that specific type of magic.”

“I should have…umm… not been so surprised… you are after all a genius” Shanya (who was ‘little’ annoyed at having come all the way here when she could be on her way to High Hrothgar and getting more training from the Greybeards) turned her attention back to Delphine and raised her voice. “Anyway, here I am. What in oblivion do you want?”

"I didn't go to all this trouble on a whim. I needed to make sure it wasn't a Thalmor trap. I'm not your enemy. I already gave you the horn. I'm actually trying to help you. I just need you to hear me out."

Shanya replied with a more calm and ‘matter of factly’ tone “well I don’t need your help; my friend Loki here is more than capable, I would go as far as to say that he could probably take a dragon down all by himself.”

Shanya was actually bragging about his abilities even after he had gotten himself hopelessly stuck in a spider web and almost had his insides slurped up like red gooey candy. Loki was starting to blush under her praise.

“What you need is information and as I hear it your friend isn’t too well versed in Skyrim history or anything about Skyrim for that matter.”

Loki narrowed his eyes at Delphine, now it was his turn to do some talking “we could just leave.”

“I shouldn't let you walk out of here, knowing what you know. But I guess even my paranoia has its limits. You know where to find me when you change your mind. Because you will. You have to."

“Sounds like you need our help more than we need yours.”

“We need each other’s help.” Delphine corrected him.

Shanya had crossed her arms and was smiling at the thought of how easily Loki could manipulate the information out of Delphine.

“Why do we need your help, why should we even trust you?”

“If you don't trust me, you were a fool to walk in here in the first place.”

“I don’t trust anyone, because anyone could be an enemy.” Loki had placed his hands on the table and was paying attention to Delphine and therefore did not notice the hurt in Shanya’s eyes.

"You need my help because the dragons aren't just coming back, they're coming back to life. They weren't gone somewhere for all these years. They were dead, killed off centuries ago by my predecessors. Now something's happening to bring them back to life. And I need you to help me stop it."

Loki started to speak but Shanya interrupted him “First of all I did not know they coming back to life but I did know that somehow this was all caused by Alduin the ruler of all dragons. He was the first dragon that appeared, he isn’t too difficult to pick out from the other dragons and he attacked Helgen. When I was there I confronted him and that’s where I got my information, he’s quite the bragger not to mention he nearly roasted my hide.”

“Well, if your information is reliable…”

“It is reliable; I got it straight from the horse’s mouth.”

“Anyway, have you ever wondered how this Alduin came back?”

“Frozen in the ice maybe?”

“No, I believe the Thalmor have something to do with it.”

“Then prove it.”

“First you need to prove that you really are Dragonborn.”

“Okay, let’s go kill a dragon.”

“At the same time we may be able to prove your Alduin theory; I've visited the dragon’s ancient burial mounds and found them empty. And I've figured out where the next one will come back to life. We're going to go there, and you're going to kill that dragon. If we succeed, I'll tell you anything you want to know."

“Okay, what’s the location?”

“Kynesgrove.”

“Good, I’ve been there before, we should split up to attract less attention, rendezvous at Kynesgrove and then make our way to the burial site together.”

“Sounds like plan, I’ll be ready in a minute”


	8. Alduin you coward, fight your own battles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wish my idiot dogs were as smart as Jorin. My dad plays Skyrim he's really leveled up so he leveled Jorin up as much as he could, turns out Jorin can take down a dragon all by himself now.

“See what you missed out on by taking the northern path to Whiterun.”

They were passing straight through and incredible field of hot springs and geysers. Jorin was in front of them sniffing the ground to check and make sure that the sulfur concentration didn’t go up too high. That would mean that there was a chamber full of gas below them and that the crust could not support their weight.

“That fox is extremely smart.”

“I have had quite a few years to train him.”

They were about to round the top of a hill when Jorin stopped and looked back at them and laid down on his stomach which was his signal to them that he could smell someone and that they should be cautious. Loki and Shanya laid down and slowly crawled up to the crest of the hill so they could see over it without being spotted.

It was Thor who was quickly walking along a trail; Kynesgrove was nestled on a hill behind him where they saw Delphine waiting patiently. Shanya reached back to pat Jorin on the head.

Loki could feel the panic rising in his throat ready to strangle him. What if Thor saw them, what if the dragon they were about to fight caught his attention and he came running up the hill to find his quarry tired from battle and… So many what ifs were running through his head, he didn’t even realize how quickly he was breathing or that Shanya had put her hand on his shoulder until she leaned over to whisper in his ear.

“Don’t worry I won’t let him find you.”

They both crawled back down the slope and out of sight and Shanya signaled to Jorin to tell them when Thor left. The clever little fox hopped up and walked around on the other side of the hill sniffing at the ground and acting like any normal fox in general. When Thor was completely out of sight he came back and yipped meaning that the coast was clear.  
***

 

Thor was worried about his brother, worried that he was hurt or lost in some strange unknown land. He felt like it was his duty to protect Loki and he had failed miserably. He had to find some way to make it up to his brother, a way to make up for all the hurt and despair. But first Thor had to find him and Riften was his only lead. He walked as quickly as he could and tried stay out of trouble in case it slowed him down. He didn’t even stop to admire an adorable little fox that he spotted by the hot springs.  
***

 

Loki, Shanya and Delphine made their way up the neglected path to the dragon burial mound. They snuck over to the safety of a large rock. Alduin was already there, he was hovering over the burial site.

The black dragon was speaking in some unfamiliar language as a dragon skeleton emerged from the mound of dirt and flesh began to appear on the creaking bones beneath a fiery cloak. Shanya defiantly stepped out from her hiding place and confronted Alduin and the recently reborn dragon. Alduin spoke something unintelligible and Shanya just stood there completely perplexed.

Then he said something they could understand “You do not even know our tongue, do you? Such arrogance, to dare take for yourself the name of Dovah.”

Alduin said something else to the resurrected dragon and flew off. They were now under attack from the dragon that was apparently named Sahloknir.

Before Sahloknir was able to rise fully into the air Loki jumped up onto the rock he was hiding behind and released a powerful spell that froze the dragon’s wing. The confused beast fell back to the earth with an ungraceful thud. 

Shanya was upon the dazed dragon with fury of battle raging in her veins; her mighty battle-axe was brought down on the frozen limb shattering the thin skin and bones that held it taut. Sahloknir’s pained roar shook the ground and temporarily startled its bite-sized foes. 

Delphine raised her bow and released an arrow that sailed through the air and sank deep into the dragon’s eye. Sahloknir assaulted them with fire but to no avail, Loki had already put up a magical shield that protected them. 

The fearless little fox stood directly in front of the beastly creature and taunted it into attacking. Jorin bolted away leaving the dragon to slam its jaw uselessly into the ground; Sahloknir had made a fatal mistake. Now that the dragon’s head was within reach Shanya raised here battle-axe and brought it down on Sahloknir’s skull, cracking it wide open.

It seemed that the same thing that had happed when the dragon was revived happed again except in reverse, there were some other differences. Bright wisps of light emanated from the corpse and wove themselves around Shanya. It seemed that the scales were not capable of being destroyed in that manner and they fell through the bones and landed in a pile.

“That’s what I call teamwork!” Shanya hollered loud enough that it would have startled all of the birds in the area had they not already fled from the previous fight.

"Honestly” Loki piped “I think we got lucky with that one, it didn’t have enough time to get used to being alive again.”

Loki turned where he had sat down so he could tell what Delphine was saying, although it did take her a while to get over the shock at what had just happened.

“First of all” Shanya had walked over to where Delphine stood to address her "Who are you and what do you want with me?"

"I'm one of the last members of the Blades. A very long time ago, the Blades were dragonslayers, and we served the Dragonborn, the greatest dragonslayer. For the last two hundred years, since the last Dragonborn emperor, the Blades have been searching for a purpose. Now that dragons are coming back, our purpose is clear again. We need to stop them."

“Our purpose, I see only one of you.”

“There may still be more in hiding.”

“Okay, fair answer.” Shanya looked over to find that Loki had stood up and was looking through the fallen dragon scales and then she looked back to Delphine “Next question, what do you think is our next move?”

“The first thing we need to do is figure out who's behind the dragons. The Thalmor are our best lead. If they aren't involved, they'll know who is."

"What makes you think the Thalmor are bringing dragons back?"

"Nothing solid. Yet. But my gut tells me it can't be anybody else. The Empire had captured Ulfric. The war was basically over. Then a dragon attacks, Ulfric escapes, and the war is back on. And now the dragons are attacking everywhere, indiscriminately. Skyrim is weakened, the Empire is weakened. Who else gains from that but the Thalmor?"

“Do you have a plan to find out?”

"If we could get into the Thalmor Embassy... it's the center of their operations in Skyrim... Problem is, that place is locked up tighter than a miser's purse. They could teach me a few things about paranoia..."

“Until Elenwen decides to throw another party for the rich and connected.”

“That might just work, how do you know this anyway?”

“I try to cause mischief with the Thalmor as often as possible and it just so happens that I was able to get invited to one of these parties. I was hoping to cause another kind of chaos but this could be fun too.”

“That sounds perfect and even better I think I know someone who could help you out. But… I don’t think it would be wise to bring Loki and Jorin along.”

“I wasn’t planning on bringing them; I thought this would be a good chance for Loki to get acquainted with some friends of mine while I was gone.”

“This couldn’t work out more perfectly.”

“You should head back to Riften and get everything together there’s a few things I need to do first, one of those things is to gather up these scales for a blacksmith that’s working on a few projects for me.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you back in Riften.”

What Shanya didn’t tell her was that these friends were actually Loki’s original family and that they had friends in Asgard who had kept an eye on him all these years.


	9. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a short sweet chapter where Loki is reunited with his true family. Shanya will be causing some chaos in the next chapter.

Halfway between Falkreath and Riften there lay a house, it was of an admirable size and had plenty of living space it even included a few guest rooms. Beautiful rugs lay on the floor, an elegant chandelier hung from the ceiling and little bobbles and trinkets decorated the shelves. A house like this could only be afforded by a noble. Byleistr sat on a comfortable fur couch, furniture made in this style was extremely rare in Skyrim. His younger brother Helbindi was pacing back and forth cursing the blizzard that impeded his planned walk around the lake.

“Be thankful we no longer live in Jotunheim little brother, back there blizzards are so common that when a storm comes in people keep working because they couldn’t afford to lose that much time.”

Helbindi didn’t believe even half of Byleistr’s stories, they seemed so outrageous. How could anyone live in a place that was even colder than the northern parts of Skyrim? Skyrim was his home it was where he was born and it was the only thing he knew, how could he even contemplate how life in Jotunheim must have been? It sounded like a miserable life even before the war. He was silently grateful that the frost giants lost the war, had they won he would be living in Jotunheim right now and not in this beautiful place he lovingly called home.

“Your claims are ridiculous, not even with your cold resistance could you have survived in such an inhospitable place.”

“Perhaps when our brother finally decides to show up he can tell you about it.”

Helbindi stopped in his tracks, he never knew their long lost brother. All he could do was listen to Byleistr’s few stories about their little runt brother. He heard that Loki had been born not very long before the last battle of the war when Odin decided to kidnap him. He knew that it was probably for the best, he knew that laufey was displeased with how small Loki was and decided to leave the helpless infant in the temple to die and that Odin had saved his life. But he couldn’t keep from hating Odin for what he had done, for taking his rightful brother. But more than anything he wanted to meet his brother.

“What does he look like?”

“The last time I saw him he was only a baby but I suppose that he would probably look a lot like us now, green eyes and black hair, maybe a little skinnier.”

“Do you think his hair will be long like yours or short like mine?”

Just at that moment their mother, Farbauti came down the stairs. She had apparently heard their conversation.

“We will all be reunited with your brother soon enough, until then you should occupy your mind with other things lest you get impatient. You could read a book or something.”

“A book?” they whined in unison.

Helbindi looked longingly out the window where he saw, to his delight, that the storm was dying down.

“Finally, I may not be able to make it all the way around the lake but at least I will be able to go outside.”

Byleistr looked out the window thoughtfully “with all this snow on the ground it should be easy to track game; it would be a good time to go hunting.”

“You two should watch out for wolves while you’re out there.”

“On the contrary” Byleistr insisted “you should tell the wolves to watch out for us.”

***

 

On the way back Shanya and Loki stopped in Whiterun to drop off the dragon scales they had collected for Eorlund. Shanya taught Loki all of the commands he could give Jorin while they walked. After they got to Riften Loki and Jorin had to walk the rest of the way on their own, but Shanya gave him clear instructions on how to get there their conversation after that was short.

“How will they know who I am?”

“They will recognize your green eyes and black hair for theirs are the same.”

He didn’t realize that he already knew what she meant until he actually got there.

It had recently snowed and Jorin was bouncing happily through the white fluff and yipping to his heart’s content. Loki had to admit that it was absolutely adorable and he laughed freely when Jorin yelped as he disappeared into an unexpectedly deep snowdrift only to pop back out again completely covered in snow.

Loki took a right where Shanya had told him to and saw a beautifully built home. Two sets of footprints left the house and headed in opposite directions, one set had already returned, he did not see the person that the second set belonged to anywhere in sight. Jorin was already yipping at the door as he approached ready to knock. Someone opened it before he had the chance, the second he saw her green eyes and back hair that was mixed with threads of silver he under stood exactly who she must be.

It was still startling when she called him son and wrapped him up in a hug. It took a second for him to hug her back, thinking he was about to cry with happiness he hid his face in her soft hair.

“It’s been so long and you’ve grown so much” she then held him back so she could look him in the eyes “I guess I can no longer call you ‘little Loki’ can I?”

“Are you going to let me come inside so you can close the door and stop letting all the warm air out.”

“Oh, of course, of course.”

They both chuckled as she ushered him inside and closed the door and Jorin went and laid down on one of the rugs. Then she yelled at someone upstairs.

“Helbindi your brother is here!”

“So!” someone hollered back.

“Your other brother, you silly thing!”

Apparently whoever was upstairs had suddenly stopped what he was doing, a few things hit the floor, and was now sprinting down the stairs. Loki was almost tackled to the floor as he was squeezed into a bear hug.

“For heaven’s sakes Helbindi, he just got here don’t strangle him.”

It was all so overwhelming and it didn’t really hit him at first, Loki had thought that everyone hated him, that his only purpose was to destroy everything that meant so much to him. Now he was being given a second chance, to have a family, to be loved; he was practically being strangled by said love but he didn’t care.

It wasn’t long before Byleistr returned home, without the luck of catching anything because he had slipped and sprained his wrist while trying to hold himself upright. He quickly took his turn to lovingly squeeze the life out of Loki; after he was released Loki noticed the injury and used his magic to heal Byleistr.

Soon they were all sitting around a cozy fire telling stories and laughing at enormously witty jokes.


	10. The Thalmor Embassy Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shanya is a little immature but she knows how to get the job done. It took me a while to figure out how to spell soiree, I had to look up synonyms for party.

Shanya felt absolutely ridiculous in those blasted ‘party clothes’. What was their definition of a party anyway? Shanya’s idea of a party was where you go to the local pub and laugh and drink all night till you can’t lie on the floor without having to hold on. She was going to cause as much chaos as possible to get revenge on them for making her have to wear this dreadful outfit.

The miserable little carriage finally came to a halt and she jumped out before taking a moment to compose herself and make it look like she wasn’t about to enter the most painfully boring place in all of Skyrim. She happened to not notice someone walk up behind her but she casually turned her head to face him and made it look like she wasn’t the least bit startled.

“Ah, a fellow latecomer to Elenwen’s little soiree, and arriving by carriage no less, I salute you ma’am. My lateness is due more to getting lost on the way up this god’s forsaken mountain than any actual desire to arrive late. Yea, I prefer to arrive early, often the day before the party so as to not miss out on any of the drinking.”

“Ah, so you are a fellow drunk, it is a pleasure to meet you” at least someone here has an speck of sense.

“You first I insist.”

Shanya displayed her invitation to the guard outside the embassy and waited to see if the fellow latecomer had anything witty to say to the guard.

“Now then, here’s my invitation, I don’t have a poison dagger strapped to my thigh etcetera, etcetera.”

“I’m just doing my duty sir; everything’s in order, welcome back sir.”

“Yes, yes, go find myself a drink.”

Shanya chuckled and made her way to the door once inside she was cornered by none other than Elenwen herself. 

"Welcome. I don't believe we've met. I am Elenwen, the Thalmor Ambassador to Skyrim. And you are...?"

“My name is Shanya. Pleased to meet you” ‘not’ she thought to herself and tried her best to fake a smile.

"Ah yes. I remember your name from the guest list. Please, tell me more about yourself. What brings you to this... to Skyrim?"

Shanya mentally cringed, but thank the nine for her friend on the inside, Malborn, rescued her from the unpleasant conversation.

"Madame Ambassador, I'm so sorry to interrupt..."

"What is it, Malborn?"

"It's just that we've run out of the Alto wine. Do I have your permission to uncork the Arenthia red..."

"Of course. I've told you before not to bother me with such trifles."

"Yes, Madame Ambassador."

Shanya shuffled away while Elenwen was distracted. When she got to the main room she decided that she would employ the help of her fellow latecomer who was now seated on a bench. Seeing that he did not have drink he had come for Shanya when and procured some colovian brandy for him but hid it behind her back.

“Hello again, you look thirsty.”

“My friend you are very perceptive, I have a powerful thirst that cannot be slaked. And none of the waiters will bring me a drink. Elenwen must have told them to cut me off, the frigid b*%#. Afraid I’ll cause another scene I suppose.”

“Well then I guess you are lucky to have a friend like me” Shanya presented him the brandy from behind her back.

“Ah, the one generous soul amongst a gathering of pinch-pennies and lick-spittles, if there’s anything I can ever do for you do not hesitate to call upon me.”

“That’s fantastic, actually the main reason I came here was to entertain myself with some chaos, could you help me with that, maybe cause a bit of a scene?”

“Is that all? My friend, you’ve come to the right person. You could say that causing a scene is somewhat a specialty of mine. Stand back and behold my handiwork.”

Shanya’s new friend stood up and addressed the whole congregation.

"Attention everyone! Could I have your attention, please! I have an announcement to make! I propose a toast to Elenwen! Our Mistress! I speak figuratively, of course. Nothing could be more unlikely than that someone would actually want her in their bed. Although... most of you are already in bed with her! But again... I speak figuratively, of course!"

While everyone was distracted Shanya pulled out a worm that she had been hiding in her ugly hat and inconspicuously dropped it in one of the guest’s drinks, they’ll never expect that one. While she was quietly snickering she made her way over to Malborn. Unfortunately she was unable to hear the rest of what happened and was quite disappointed she had to leave.

“Let’s go, let’s go! Before anyone notices us.”

Once Malborn closed the door it was much safer to talk.

“That poor fellow with the drink will be in for quite the surprise.”

“Real mature, I can’t believe Delphine chose you.”

“I dropped maturity at the door on the way in.”

“Anyway we have to pass through the kitchens…”

“Okay let’s go.”

“Just stay close and let me do the talking.”

A khajiit in the kitchens was alerted by the door opening.

“Who comes, Malborn? You know I don’t like strange smells in my kitchen.”

“A guest, feeling ill. Leave the poor wretch be.”

Shanya tried to play along and act like she was sick.

“A guest? In the kitchens? You know this is against the rules…”

“Rules, is it, Tsavani? I didn’t realize that eating Moon Sugar was permitted. Perhaps I should ask the ambassador…”

“Tss! Get out of here, I saw nothing.”

They entered another room and Malborn closed the door.

“Okay your weapons are in that chest.”

Malborn wasn’t able to smuggle in her enormous battle axe so she had him bring a couple of dinky little swords and some projectiles, which were actually just rocks, Shanya had a pretty powerful throw. In fact there were a couple of Thalmor guards a few rooms over that she was able to take out with those little projectiles. She wasn’t exactly expecting the wizard to hear and was halfway across the room when a spell hit the wall next to her. After the initial surprise she found safety around the corner. To be able to attack her again the wizard had to expose himself and when he did he was knocked unconscious by one of her rocks.  
***

 

Erikur was sipping his drink as he eyed the lovely serving girl, she seemed to be playing hard to get when he spoke to her earlier. Suddenly he stopped mid-sip when something slimy touched his lips, and then it moved, he fought the urge to throw up and tried to calmly take a look at the offending object. But once he saw, he completely lost it; he screamed in a very unmanly manner and dashed his goblet on the ground. The room was engulfed in laughter as the disgusting thing squirmed about on the floor. He resigned himself to the corner of the room in an aura of humiliation for the rest of the night.


	11. The Thalmor Embassy Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Malborn you sissy.

Shanya was able to sneak past the guards in the snowy courtyard very easily even though she was still dressed in her colorful and ridiculous party attire. She proceeded to quietly open the door to Elenwen’s Solar which was just as well because there was a guard facing the staircase at the opposite end of the room. When she heard people talking in another room she hid behind plant that stood in the corner of the main room.

"But, I need that money! I earned it. I have my own expenses you know..."

"Silence! Do not presume, Gissur. You are most useful, but do not presume. We have other informants who are less... offensive."

"But no one else has brought you such valuable information, have they? Etienne, he's talked, hasn't he? He knows where that old man is you're looking for, he told me himself."

"You'll get the rest of your money when we confirm his story. As agreed."

"So he has talked! I knew it!"

"Everyone talks, in the end. Now, I have work to do. Leave me to it, if you ever want to see the rest of your payment."

"Can I... I could help you. He'd talk to me. He trusts me."

“You'd like to come downstairs with me, is that it, Gissur? Shall we loose his bonds and put you in a cell together? You can ask him anything you like, and see how he answers."

"No, no. I'll... I'll wait outside."

"That would probably be best. Now get out!"

The one that she presumed was named Gissur exited the building without noticing Shanya in her little hiding place. The other person who was involved in the conversation headed downstairs leaving her alone with the guard. Shanya had positioned herself behind the guard and was about to knock him unconscious when he suddenly decided to turn around. Before he was able to fully react Shanya had pinned him to the ground both of his arms were in Shanya’s hand and her other hand was over his mouth. Shanya decided she would question the guard a little bit so she knew what she was walking into but fist she would have to blackmail him.

“Now, if you cooperate I will let you go unharmed, but if decide to yell for help I’ll cut your tongue out, understood?”

The guard nodded and Shanya removed her hand.

“First question, who are all the people that are downstairs right now?”

“The person who just went down there was Rulindil, there is also a soldier down there that is helping him question the prisoner.”

“Who is this prisoner?”

“His name is Etienne and he believes he knows the location of the blades member, Esbern.”

“Ah, Etienne, one of my little friends from the Thieves Guild. Did Rulindil lock the door on his way down?”

“He always keeps the door locked.”

“Is there a spare key and if there is where is it?”

“There is, it’s in the chest in the northwestern corner.”

Now that Shanya had all that she needed to know she pulled the guard up from the floor then opened the door she came through and shoved him outside. Once the door was safely closed she shoved a bookshelf in front of it to keep it closed. She went and got another bookshelf to shove in front of it for good measure.

To her fortune she spotted a fur jacket and a pair of boots that she could use once she was back outside.

Just as the guard said the key was in the chest along with two books containing the Thalmor's intelligence on Delphine and Ulfric Stormcloak, there also happened to be a document on the status of the dragon investigation which proved that the Thalmor were not behind the resurrection of Alduin.

Shanya was on full alert as she unlocked the door to the interrogation room and quietly stepped inside. Rulindil was seated at a desk; there were bars along one side of the cell that Etienne was kept in so one could see inside. Rulindil was asking questions and the Thalmor soldier was inside the cell doing his dirty work.

"Stop. Please. I don't know anything else. Don't you think I'd have told you already?"

The soldier was quick to silence the prisoner "Silence. You know the rules. Do not speak unless spoken to. Master Rulindil will ask the questions."

Rulindil leaned forward and rested his arms on the desk unaware that Shanya was sneaking down the stairs "Let's begin again."

"No... for pity's sake... I've already told you everything..."

"You know the rules."

"Noooooo!!!"

"Start at the beginning, as usual. If you persist in this stubbornness I'll have..."

"No, wait! I was just... catching my breath... why wouldn't I tell you again? I don't even know anything... There's an old man. He lives in Riften. He could be this Esbern you're looking for, but I don't know. He's old and seemed kind of crazy. That's all I know."

"And his name is...?"

"I don't know his name. Like I've told already a hundred- Ahhhh!"

By now Shanya was hiding right behind Rulindil’s chair ready to strike was he was finished with his questions. "You know the rules. Just answer the questions. And where can we find this nameless old man?"

"Like I said, I don't know! I've seen him down in the Ratway. Maybe he lives down there, but I don't know for sure."

"That will be all for now. I must say I continue to be disappointed in your lack of cooperation. I hope next time you will do better."

"What else do you want from me? I've already told you everything. Listen, if you let me go I can take you to Riften, show you where- Gaaaaah!!!"

"Silence, prisoner!" When the soldier struck Etienne for the final time he passed out.

Shanya rose up from her hiding position and slit Rulindil’s throat. The soldier saw and was after her in a moment’s notice. Shanya moved to the other side of the desk and used it to crush her foe but it didn’t stop him from yelling at her. One strategic stab between the plates of his armor was the end of that.

Shanya shook Etienne back to consciousness and freed him from his bonds though was still in a little bit of shock.

“Shanya wha… how did you get in?”

Shanya kept her voice to a whisper and she didn’t want to say too much because she heard the door open “just stay out of the way while I deal with our guests.”

Two soldiers had entered with Malborn and Shanya snuck up the stairs without them seeing her.

“Listen up spy, you’re trapped in here and we have your accomplice. Surrender immediately or you both die.”

“Never mind I’m dead already” Malborn said dejectedly

The soldiers were about to attack Malborn but before they could Shanya grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him out of the way before using her unrelenting force shout on them. They flew over the rail and their skulls were broken on the floor below. 

Shanya rushed back down the stairs with Malborn in tow. She had spotted a trap door earlier and now searched the unfortunate Thalmor for the key. Thankfully one of the soldiers that had brought in Malborn had it. Etienne was waiting patiently for her and Malborn was complaining about his misfortune at being caught.

“I really hope this key unlocks the trap door.”

“Well don’t just stand there, try it” Etienne was definitely ready to leave.

There was a small tunnel beneath the trap door and at the entire place reeked so badly that it made Shanya a little dizzy. At the end of the tunnel there was a ledge that dropped down to a medium sized cave.

The all too eager to leave Etienne jumped over the ledge without a second thought and was assaulted by a hungry troll. Before the troll hurt him too badly Shanya threw one of her rocks to get its attention so Etienne could stumble out of the way of further harm. Malborn was again complaining about his misfortune while Shanya heroically jumped down from the ledge and faced the troll. The hulking beast charged at her and she nimbly dodged out of the way while directing a quick stab at its arm. Her blade had sliced through the nerve, rendering that arm useless.

“Oh, woe is me” Malborn complained from above.

The troll had turned around and Shanya took her turn to charge but right at the last second she dropped to the floor and slid beneath its legs. Her blades found the tendons that ran along the backs of its thighs and the troll dropped helplessly to the floor. Shanya moved to the side where the troll’s crippled arm lay and put it out of its misery.

Now she directed her anger vocally at Malborn “get your ass down here you pansy!”

Thankfully it was a small cave and suddenly they were assaulted by Skyrim’s unmerciful cold wind. Etienne who wore nothing but a pair of breeches was surprisingly unfazed, for the moment at least. Malborn had run off the second he saw sky and the two were left alone.

"You didn't have to help me, so.... thanks." He turned to leave but Shanya stopped him.

“Wait, you’re going to freeze to death.”

She handed him the fur jacket that was tied around her waist as well as the pair of boots that she was going to replace her party shoes with.

“Oh, thanks... again.”

“You need them far more than I do. Now I need to go find some alcohol, I’ll be dammed if I attend a party and go home sober.”


	12. Begining the Path to Redemtion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've kinda been ignoring Thor, but oh well now you can find out where he's gone.  
> For the record I am using Jane so she can stop Thor from sending Loki back to jail, she is probably the one person he'll listen to on this matter. but I won't let her go back home without a conflict.

Thor was very angry as paced in his chambers, he was so close to finding his brother and then at the worst moment possible Odin had ordered him back home. Thor was still responsible for seeing to the wars that had ravaged the nine realms ever since the destruction of the bifrost. Even though it had since been rebuilt the wars raged on.

And now here Thor was, every moment he wasted was a moment for Loki to get further away. Thor turned to the door angrily; someone had walked in and that someone happened to be Balder.

“It is not wise to be in my presence right now.”

“Is it ever?”

“Go away.”

"No. Thor, you have responsibilities and these wars are more important than finding Loki. There is no way he can leave that planet and he will still be there when these wars are over. At any rate it is likely that you will simply be able to follow the path of destruction to find him.”

“Have care how you speak of him, he is still my brother.”

“He is a homicidal maniac that will kill you if he gets the chance. Besides it’s not like you ever visited him while he was in the dungeons.”

“I was afraid to see what he had become.”  
***

 

Loki could feel the rift that had opened up nearby and intended on investigating. He told Byleistr that he was going for a walk and grabbed a fur cloak and draped it over his shoulder on the way out in case he encountered cold weather. His armor wasn’t exactly made for the cold and he already has had to use magic to warm himself up a few times.

He made his way toward the rift and realized that he would have to cross the lake. Thankfully Byleistr enjoyed going fishing and had a boat pulled up on the shore. Loki wasn’t used to being out on the water and the motion of it was calming.

Once on the opposite shore he pulled the boat up onto dry land and made his way up the mountainside. The magical energy signature led him to a cave; it was cold but not cold enough to justify using the cloak.

He couldn’t see the rift but he could feel its influence, when he saw a form laying on the floor he went on high alert. Clearly this was no accident, now he could tell that the rift was forcefully ripped open and that this must be a trap.

He surveyed the cave, magic at the ready but found no one, why wasn’t there anyone there? It was clearly a trap but there wasn’t anyone to ambush him. Loki sighed as he gazed at the unconscious figure; well he couldn’t just leave her here. When he turned her over to look for injuries he was startled to find that it was Jane Foster. He now realized that this must have been a trap for Thor and that the attackers probably weren’t expecting a powerful mage to show up and they fled. He then noticed how cold she was and wrapped her up in the fur cloak. He picked her up and carried her out of the dismal little cave. 

He made it back to the house without any incidents until he got up the stairs and found his chuckling little brother. 

“Kidnapping yourself a girlfriend?”

“I found her lying unconscious in a cave, I rescued her.”

“Oh, I see… Have you kissed her yet?”

Loki usually liked how his brothers casually joked around with him, it made him feel more like he belonged. But for now he decided to ignore his little brother and went to his room. He laid Jane down on his bed and proceeded to use his magic to warm her up.  
***

 

When Jane woke up she was lying in a very comfortable bed but she had a nasty headache. At first she snuggled further into the fur blankets but then she remembered what had happened and panicked. Her kidnappers said they would use her as bait to catch Thor and make him pay for whatever it was that he did.

She realized there was someone else in the room and she nervously peeked out from under the sheets. What she saw struck her with pure terror; she recognized that armor and did not wish to see what he had planned for her. Thankfully he was distracted sorting through a bookshelf and she quietly got up from the bed and crept over to where he stood. She picked up a particularly heavy book he had set on the table and brought it down on her unsuspecting captor’s head. Loki hit the floor with a solid thud.

Now her headache had gone away and she could think more clearly. She rushed to the door and pulled but to her horror it wouldn’t budge because Loki had put a spell on it. She made for the window but she didn’t realize that widows in Skyrim weren’t built open; they were built strong and heavy to withstand the elements. Now she could really panic, she had no way of escaping and Loki would certainly be very ticked off when he awoke. She did the best thing she could think of, she hid.  
***

 

When Loki awoke he tried to stand up but he was too dizzy and fell back to the floor. He took a minute to let his vision clear and surveyed the room. Thankfully it looked like the spell he used to keep Helbindi out had effectively kept her in. He couldn’t see her at first but he spied a slight movement under the bed. He shook his head and chuckled to himself not realizing that it sounded quite maniacal to her. 

“Now is that any way to treat your host?” He saw that she was moving as far back under the bed as she could.

He was still on his knees when he shuffled over to the bed and lazily laid on his side with his hand on the bed to look under.

“What do you want?” her words faltered in fear.

Loki rested his head on his hand and smiled casually.

“I thought you were a little cold and we wouldn’t want one of those bandit barbarians to get their hands on you now would we? Thor would be very upset and no doubt blame me; I would be thrown back in jail faster than Volstagg could eat a slice of pie.”

“Wait, what?” Jane couldn’t believe what she was hearing, she was actually safe and Loki didn’t want to hurt her?

“Don’t worry when I find who brought you here I will send you back home before Heimdal even notices you were even gone.”

“Okay so I just hit you in the head with a book and you’re not upset?”

“We all do silly things when we are afraid, also an associate of mine told me to try and make friends.”

Okay so he wasn’t going to hurt her that gave her some more courage “you think we could be friends after everything that’s happened?”

“I said I would try.”

“But you trapped me in here!”

Loki did not refrain from laughing “actually I was trying to keep Helbindi out, apparently he thinks you’re cute.” Jane blushed a little at that.

“So you’re not the only person who lives here?”

Right at that moment they could hear someone open the front door and call out in a singsong voice “La La La Lokiiiii!” It was definitely Shanya and she sounded just a tad drunk.

Loki pulled his hand out from under his head and offered it to Jane. Saying that she took it tentatively would be an understatement.

Jane didn’t think it was possible for him to be so polite but as an afterthought she remembered that he was probably being nice so as to not incur Thor’s wrath.

They were now walking down the stairs and the second Helbindi saw them he yelled out “oh look its Prince Charming and Sleeping Beauty!”

Loki may not have caught the reference but Jane did. She wondered how they were able to get books from Earth when she spied a Harry Potter book on one of the tables.

They were all there in the living area and Loki was able to introduce Jane to them all at once. He decided to poke a few jokes at Shanya who was somewhat occupied drunkenly murmuring silly nick-names into Jorin’s soft fur while holing a bottle of ale in one hand.

“So did this happen at the party or did you hit up the local bar afterwards because you weren’t drunk enough.”

“The bar, one of the guards in Falkreath brought me home.”

“How far did you get before they kicked you out, did you start flirting with some of the other women?” 

“I never thought I’d see a woman that could hold down that many bottles of ale.” Helbindi commented.

Jane was starting to calm down in the midst of jokes and laughter. By now Farbauti had left the room to prepare dinner and Byleistr had moved to sit next to Shanya on the couch.

“Oh, wait a minute...” Shanya put way too much emphasis on ‘wait’.

“We weren’t going anywhere, unless you thought the room was spinning and wanted me to stop it.” Byleistr joked as he lightly bumped her shoulder.

“No, not this time. Lolo I got something for you.”

Loki raised an eyebrow “Lolo?”

“Hahaheyea, I’ve decided that you need a cute nickname and that’s what I came up with.”

“No, please, I don’t need a nickname.”

“Would you rather I called you frosty the giant?” Jane tried to hide a chuckle when she heard that clever reference.

“If you weren’t drunk right now I’d punch you.”

“You’d punch the person who got you some nice new armor.”

“Yes, wai.. what?”

“You didn’t notice that green pile on the table?” Shanya pointed a wavering finger to where there was indeed a ‘green pile’ with a pair of boots behind it, both seemed to be made of dragon scales, there was also a circlet that was fashioned with horns like those on his helmet. 

Shanya continued “I didn’t know if you’d use the circlet-type thing instead of your helmet but I thought I’d give it a try because I’d like to be able to see your hair.”

“Wow, really? That’s… just, uh… thank you.”

“Well? Are you going to try it on or what?”

“Oh, sure… just let me go up to my room so I can change.” Loki grabbed the pile of shiny new armor and made his way towards the stairs.

“Wait, hehehe you should change right… here.” There was sarcasm in her voice but she said it a little too seriously for comfort and it made Loki stop for a second.”

“Don’t mind her” Byleistr reassured “she’s just drunk.”

“Yea… sure.” Loki was walking a little quicker now.

Now that Loki was gone and Shanya was busy talking to Jorin, Helbindi moved over to the other couch so he could talk to Jane.

“Hello, pretty little wildflower, you seemed a little nervous earlier.”

“Well I am a little surprised that Loki is being so nice and not trying to kill anyone.”

“Well of course and there are several reasons for that.”

“Okay, enlighten me.”

“Well first of all, what happened in New York was purely because Loki was brainwashed by the Chitauri.”

“Even if that is true…”

“It is.”

“What about what happed before that, with the destroyer?”

“He believed that he was doing what he had to, to protect his home.”

“Okay… well what about right now, isn’t he affected by what happened, is there no residue of being brainwashed?”

“Well of course, his memories of those actions affect his judgment even after the magical traces of the brainwashing subsides. That is why Shanya had a friend of hers enchant a ring that subdues those memories”

“He isn’t wearing a ring”.

“Shanya put it on his finger without him knowing so a part of the enchantment needed to make it invisible. He found out about it but Shanya can’t remove that part of the enchantment on her own.”

“What if it falls off?”

Shanya had heard her name and was listening to their conversation. “That’s already happened once and he passed out.”

“Well… this is quite the revelation for me.”

They heard footsteps on the stairs and Loki walked to the middle of the room in his fancy new armor and he seemed truly delighted by it.

“This very comfortable and is very easy to move around in, thank you very much Shanya.”

Since Shanya was too drunk to explain the other features Byleistr did it for her. “It is enchanted to move silently and to keep your body at just the right temperature so you don’t have to worry about freezing. Another cool thing is that if you take a staff and place it across your back angling from your right shoulder to your left hip it will stick in place due to another enchantment.”

The armor was separated into four parts that were built to be comfortable and to be easy to put on. The boots fit snugly and rubber from Earth was brought in for the tread. The pants were made mostly of dragon skin leather some of it was interwoven strips save for the part that covered the knee and a length of dragon scales that protected the front of the shin. The cuirass and cloak was designed similar to his old armor save that they were separate pieces and made from dragon leather and scales; there was no green cape by the way. The bottom part of the cloak was made up of dragon scales in the shape of diamonds that were connected by rings of metal which made them able move more freely. Protective gloves were also fitted as part of the gauntlets; they left the palm of the hand open so objects could still be gripped easily.

At the moment Shanya couldn’t hold onto seriousness for very long “Now strut across the room like a fashion model.”


	13. Poetic Justice

Thunder rolled in the distance, there was no real way to know if it was Thor or just Skyrim’s unpredictable weather. Loki assumed it would be safer to believe the former and he sat in bed wide awake. ‘At least’ he thought ‘if it is Thor coming to look for Jane he would find her unharmed and won’t be able to accuse me of anything’.

It was all the better that he stayed awake; his sensitive hearing caught the sound of the front door opening and closing even with the thunder. Loki wore only a green nightshirt and a pair of black pants, he was completely vulnerable without his armor but he didn’t have the time to put it on.

He used magic to hide himself and slowly crept out of his room. The door to the room Jane was staying in was wide open. A dark figure wearing a cloak and a mask had her trapped between its arms using its hand to silence her. Her eyes were wide with fear as she tried vainly to escape the unyielding grip of her attacker. 

“Looks like the cowardly traitor has come to rescue his little mortal” the assailant must have sensed his magic.

Loki let off the invisibility spell and used the most intimidating voice he could think of “let her go or I’ll hang your corpse from the tallest tree in Falkreath.”

“My little pup you have overstepped your boundaries once again.”

He should have recognized that voice much sooner, now he did and he froze in pure horror. He feared for Jane too but his muscles refused to respond to any will of his own to protect her.

“I might still have use of you Loki, if you surrender your loyalties to me now I will nullify any further punishment you would have received.”

The attacker released its grip from around Jane’s waist and brought a knife to her throat indicating what would happen if Loki did not comply.

The fear he felt would not stop coursing through his veins, no matter how hard he tried he could not move. He was trapped by his own mind like a deer caught in a pair of headlights or a rabbit who’s instinct tells him that if he stays still long enough the threat will go away.

No one could see that the door to the opposite room had been nudged open because of how dark it was. Loki heard a faint click as an arrow zipped past his ear and sunk into the intruder’s shoulder causing her to drop the knife.

Despite what one may think Jane is actually pretty strong and very well capable of defending herself given the chance. She took this opportunity to elbow the intruder right in the throat and, with a few shoves and punches, knock her to the floor.

Jane stepped out of harm’s way just as Helbindi rushed into the room with his crossbow, promptly shoving Loki out of the way to stand protectively in front of Jane.

Apparently the mask had been loose on the intruders face because she pushed it back a bit and disappeared.

They stood there waiting for something to happen, when nothing happed for a few minutes they relaxed just a little bit.

Except Helbindi, he turned and looked at Loki with a glare that would scare just about anybody other than Loki; or at least not on a normal day, but this was far from normal.

“You were considering her offer weren’t you?”

“No… I… I would never…”

“Liar.”

Loki took a short moment to calm down, this was his brother after all, and it made sense when he thought about his own temper and how hard to control it was. Maybe if he tried making a joke it would calm Helbindi's nerves a little.

“Well… I’m flattered but I’m not that good of a liar.”

‘That was a bad idea.’ Helbindi’s anger did not lessen if anything it got stronger as advanced toward Loki. Loki cautiously stepped back only to hit the wall behind him.

“Jane’s life was in danger and what did you do, you just stood there.”

“I meant no harm.”

“And yet you made no move to keep her from harm.”

“There was nothing I could do at the time.”

“One simple little spell and that thing would have been blown to pieces.”

“Brother, please try to understand.”

“No… Shanya must have made a mistake. There is no way a coward like you could be my brother.”

At that moment Loki realized the bitter irony of their argument, because that was exactly how he had been treating Thor. What if Thor had actually felt the same way Loki did right now, did that mean that after everything there was still a chance that Thor still loved him and wanted him back? At that moment Loki resigned to ‘just standing there’ once again as he felt what little of his heart he had left break into a thousand pieces, just like the bifrost. It seemed that poetic justice had been served.

Jane had looked on helplessly as the scene before her unfolded.

Loki voted on running out of the room to hide his misery in the blankets of his own bed.


	14. Apologies

Helbindi liked Jane, he liked her a lot. She was softer and sweeter than the women that lived in Skyrim and she was far more optimistic. Comparing her intelligence to anyone that lived in Skyrim was like comparing the size of a mammoth to that of a rabbit. But more than anything she was funny, after dinner they had stayed up for hours passing jokes and witty comments about people they knew.

But now she had just been attacked and not only that she had seen him completely lose his temper with his own brother. He wouldn’t hear the end of this from mother, they were supposed to be welcoming Loki into the family not trying to alienate him. She would no doubt force her ill-tempered son to apologize in the morning.

No, he refused to be humiliated like that, he would go over and apologize before Farbauti even found out about it. He would apologize for the sake of his relationship with Jane; he just might be able to redeem himself in her eyes. Until then he would watch her room like a hawk to ensure that no more danger would befall her. How she could just shoo him out of the room and go back to sleep after that was beyond him.

But Jane hadn’t fallen asleep, she had her eyes closed but she didn’t sleep. She was far too busy pondering the idea of giving up on Thor’s return in favor of beginning a relationship with her new protective friend who was obviously interested. Even though he had lost his temper she considered that everyone loses their temper occasionally. She also noted that he had lost his temper over her safety and wellbeing.

Jane was also very much concerned about Loki’s temper and whether this incident would change his mind about protecting her. It certainly wouldn’t take much for him to just blow her up and be done with it; he might even do it just to spite Helbindi.  
* * *

 

When morning came Farbauti went and woke everyone up and Helbindi panicked, he had fallen asleep when Jane could have quite possibly still been in danger. He was comforted when she walked out of her room; she was slightly drowsy but completely unharmed. Helbindi waited a minute or so, that way everyone would be there when he apologized to Loki.

Helbindi stepped down the stairs completely ready, until he realized that Loki wasn’t even there. But he couldn’t go up to his brothers room and get him that would obligate him to apologize up there where Jane couldn’t see. Instead he just sat down on the couch.

Jane noticed something else, Shanya wasn’t there.

“Hey does anyone know where Shanya went?”

Byleistr was quick to answer. “Once she sobered up, which she actually does quite quickly, she took off on her horse to go find that Esbern guy the Thalmor were looking for.”

“Oh.”

Farbauti went back upstairs to get Loki out of bed, which she thought was odd because the past two mornings he had been up first.

When Farbauti tried to get Loki out of bed he just sank further into his furs.

“Loki, darling you need to get up so you can get something to eat.”

The last thing Loki wanted to do was go downstairs and face Helbindi who would probably be acting like nothing happened. He needed to lie to get out of it.

“I’m not feeling so well, uh… last night I went downstairs and I slipped. I think I may have sprained my ankle, could I perhaps eat up here?”

“Of course dear, do you need some ice for your ankle?”

“No, that’s okay; I’ll just stick it out the window.”

They both looked outside, it was snowing just like it had been a few days ago. Farbauti laugh was so sweet and melodious that despite Loki’s recent heartbreak he managed to smile.

“I suppose the swelling has already gone down.”

“It has.”

“Now you get better while I go get your breakfast.”

“Thank you.”

Loki was sincere when he told her that, he had so much to thank her for. She had given Loki a home when most of the universe had rejected him. Loki knew that she would love him no matter what just as Frigga had. At the thought of his adoptive mother Loki sank deeper into sadness. Frigga had believed in him when no one else would and he still let her down.  
* * *

 

There was no sign of Loki while they had eaten breakfast; Helbindi was starting to realize that his callous words had hurt Loki far more than he thought. He was starting to feel guilty, now he actually had a real reason to apologize instead of just for his own gain.

Now that they were done with breakfast Byleistr was reading a Harry Potter book and his mother had gone to mix up a healing potion for Loki’s ankle which he obviously must have faked. Helbindi had an idea; he scooted over to where Jane was reading a science magazine and quietly got her attention.

“Hey Jane, I realize that what I said to Loki last night was insensitive and I want to apologize but there’s one little problem.”

“And what would that be?”

“I’m nervous, could you come up with me?”

“Of course.”  
* * *

 

When they entered Loki’s room they couldn’t see him, just a mound of furs that Helbindi got the distinct impression were ignoring him.

Jane was a bit bolder than Helbindi, while he stayed put Jane stepped forward to move one of the furs out of the way revealing a set of deep green eyes staring back at her. Jane sat down in a chair that happened to be close to the bed and looked at Helbindi expectantly.

This staring contest went on for a while because, well, if this didn’t work and Loki got ticked off there were a lot of painful/embarrassing spells he could try out on his little twit of a brother.

Jane started to get annoyed “Stop being such a pansy and apologize to your brother.”

“So” Loki said in a way that was a little evil sounding while he straightened in his bed “You came here to apologize.”

Loki’s way of talking like that had a tendency to scare Helbindi and this was no exception. Helbindi made a dash for the door only to have Loki hex it closed. A notion popped into his head ‘this was Loki’s way of getting revenge’.

“Okay, okay! If you were trying to scare the daylights out of me then mission accomplished.”

Loki’s grin was the only reply he got from that. Helbindi sighed and sat down next to his brother hoping he wouldn’t do anything else.

“I am truly sorry about what I said last night. My brain must have short-circuited because I have absolutely no excuse to treat you like that.”

Helbindi held his breath for a few moments half expecting to be thrown across the room. The next moment Loki wrapped his arms around his tense brother and rested his head on Helbindi’s shoulder.

Apparently Jane was amused “aww, that’s so cute.”

“Is not!” they both replied at the same time.

Helbindi tried to turn his head a little so he could see Loki’s face but just got a face full of jet-black hair.

“Hey, if there is anything I can help you with let me know okay.”

There was a long silence before Loki finally replied.

“The only thing I want right now is to tell Frigga that I’m okay and that I miss her.”

“I know of someone who can smuggle a letter into the palace.”

“Really?” When Loki mentioned that he didn’t expect Helbindi to be able to do anything he was just looking for some comforting words.

“Yea, Theodane regularly makes trips to each of the known planets. He makes a living by trading goods from one planet to another and it is not uncommon for him to take requests; he can bring a letter to Frigga for you.”

“So that’s how you got those Harry Potter books!” Jane blurted out.


	15. I Knew You Lacked Conviction, Now I Know Why

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the sake of my fiction Phil Coulson in not killed on the helicarier he was simply wounded and sent to the hospital.

“Coulson you just got out of the hospital are you sure you’re up for this?” Steve was giving him that little raised eyebrow look which was his way of saying that he was genuinely concerned.

“It shouldn’t be anything major, Jane probably just got lost while trying to do her research and I have been idle for far too long.”

“Are you sure I shouldn’t be driving right now?”

“Positive.”

“Hold up, I think I see something behind those trees.”

Coulson pulled the vehicle over they both maneuvered through the trees to get a closer look. 

“This is definitely the car Jane left in.”

“Look there’s footprints leading further into the forest.” Steve pointed to a line of faint tracks in the dirt.

“Then that’s the first place we’ll look.”

They moved further into the trees all the while Coulson kept track of their location with and advanced GPS.

“I think that there is something interfering with the GPS.”

Both were looking at the GPS intently as they took a few steps forward.

“Now it won’t work at all.”

“I don’t think that’s our biggest problem right now.” Steve purposefully bumped Coulson to get his attention.

They were standing at the back end of a cave. Steve spun around a few times to get a better idea of where they were.

“How did we get here?”

“This would explain a lot.” Coulson murmured half to himself.

“How is that?”

“I think we just stepped through a small portal not un-similar to the one opened above Stark Tower. That would also explain why Jane was out here, she was probably studying it and she probably got stuck here.”

“Does that mean that we’re stuck here too?”

Steve took step back the way they came and disappeared, a few short seconds later he reappeared.

“It looks like the portal goes both ways; there is no reason for her to be stuck here.”

“Well, we still need to find her.”

They stepped out of the cave only to be blinded by sunlight.

“Well” Steve sighed “I don’t see any footprints, in fact it looks like it snowed here recently.”

“That’s a nice big house across the lake, maybe whoever lives there knows something, Jane might even be staying there.”

“First we have to get across the lake.”

“I see a fisherman down there maybe he will give us a ride.”

“He may have seen Jane.”

“Possibly.”

* * *

 

Jorin was yipping loudly at a boat that was crossing the lake.

“Jorin what is your problem, It’s probably just some fishermen.”

But Jorin wouldn’t move from his spot even as Shanya’s horse trotted on.

“Jorin!”

Jorin immediately continued to follow along behind.

* * *

 

Loki was on the balcony, his new armor shining in all its glory. He was even wearing the circlet. He had waved to Shanya as she passed below a few minutes ago and now he was just enjoying the cool breeze and the knowledge that he was right where he belonged.

He wasn’t even aware of the two people that were walking up the stairs.

“Loki, I want you to put your hands in the air and then turn around slowly.”

Of course he recognized Steve’s voice and of course he didn’t listen to either of the demands. He spun around as quick as he could causing both Steve and Coulson to tighten the grip on their guns one of which was a few inches from Loki’s face. Loki turned sideways and ducked down through the railing of the balcony; the circlet didn’t fit and was left behind. The second he hit the ground he was off running through the snow.

Steve and Coulson were about to give chase when a white fox ran up the stairs to stand in their way and yip at them. The door that led from the balcony to inside the house opened up and standing in the doorway was, of all people, Jane.

“What is going on?”

“I would like to ask you the same thing about Loki.”

A woman with short black hair walked up behind Jane.

“You did not… son of a biscuit-eater.”

Jane tuned to their defense “They didn’t know.”

“Jorin you can shut up now!”

Jorin immediately went quiet, sat down and tilted his head to the side.

“You guys can come in so I can explain everything to you, Shanya you should....”

“I’ll go find Loki; he’s probably halfway to Markarth by now.”

* * *

“Brainwashed?” Steve repeated for the third time while Coulson sat beside him chuckling every now and then.”

“Okay Phil, what’s so funny?”

“I knew there was something about him that was out of place, his natural eye color make a lot of sense too, it also happens to be his favorite color.”

“His natural eye color?”

“They’re green, didn’t you notice.”

“But they were blue before... just like Barton’s when he was brainwashed.”

“Exactly.”

When Shanya and Loki finally made it back to the house they were both breathing a little too heavily. Loki went and sat down on the floor in front of Coulson.

“First of all I would like to apologize all of my actions…”

“You were brainwashed, it wasn’t your fault.”

“I guess, I read a book on it quite recently that explained a few things… brainwashing takes a person’s belief and twists it into something else. Like my belief that the people of earth cannot possibly defend themselves from a race of another planet if they fight amongst themselves. It made me believe that the ends justified the means, it most certainly does not.”

“Regardless” Coulson addressed Steve and Jane “I believe this incident should be kept a secret from the rest of SHEILD, it’s safer that way.”

At that moment Jorin decided that Loki was sitting at the perfect height to pet him and started licking his face to get his attention. Loki responded by putting him in a light headlock but Jorin kept squirming to try and get at his face again.

“Another safety issue” Coulson continued “is that portal, it would be best if you guys found a way to close it.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem” Byliestr assured.

“And Jane, we should probably get back before Eric and Darcy get any more worried.”

“That would be best.”

“Wait” Helbindi grabbed her shoulder “you’re leaving?”

“I have to, and it would probably be best if we both found someone on our own planet to start a relationship with.”

“I’ll miss you little wildflower.”

Jane gave him a little kiss on the cheek before she stood up to leave with Steve and Coulson. “I’ll miss you too.”

“Watch out for dragons” Shanya warned.

Steve and Coulson were about to laugh when Jane spoke up “she’s not joking.”

Byleistr stood up to leave with them “I’ll get you guys back across the lake in my boat. Maybe Theodane could bring Jane over to visit every now and then.”

“I think that will work out okay, will he know where to find me?”

“Of course he will.”

Coulson stopped and tuned around before he walked out the door.

“Hey Loki.”

“Yea.”

“Stay out of trouble.”

“No guaranties.” Loki said with a grin and a mischievous glint in his eye.


	16. The Letter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I have finally figured out how to post these chapters properly so that it keeps the source formatting. unfortunately this is a short chapter.

Loki had stayed up late last night after Jane left and now he was quietly dozing in the morning sunlight that fell on his bed. Or at least he was until he was dislodged from his bed onto the floor by an impatient Shanya.

“Hurry up and suit up. We need to meet Delphine and Esbern at Sky Have Temple.”

“This can’t wait?”

“Nope.”

Loki used a spell to chase the sleep away and reluctantly put his armor on. Then he remembered what Helbindi had said the other day and was about to write the letter when Helbindi walked in.

“You should send her a picture too, I have a really cute one here of Jorin licking your face.”

“Any other suggestions?”

“Try to make her laugh; she’ll cherish it even more. Theodane will be here later today so it won’t be long before she gets it. Also don’t write any names of places in case someone else finds it and reads it.”

“Thank you.”

*             *             *

Shanya was waiting for him at the door with Jorin.

“Ready to rock?”

There was a little silence before Byleistr spoke up “this is where you say ‘let’s roll’.”

“Why do I have to go anyway?”

“Because I want brave powerful mage to protect me.”

“Ha ha very funny, I know for a fact that you do not need protection if anything everyone else needs protection from you.”

“I was missing you when I went to go find Esbern and I don’t want to be stuck with those two crazies all by myself.”

Farbauti came out of the kitchen with a side-bag that looked like it was stolen from Indiana Jones.

“I won’t let my little boy go on adventure without some breakfast.”

“Little?”

“I put some chicken, bread, fruit and a cream treat in there for you” She gave him a little kiss on the forehead “stay safe.”

“Little?” Loki repeated as Farbauti went back to whatever it was that she was doing.

*             *             *

Frigga was in the magic section of the library, it was Loki’s favorite corner to hide in. She passed her hand over the bindings of books that she knew Loki had read over and over again. Their old worn pages haven’t seen light since and had grown dusty in his absence.

“Lady Frigga, a trader has asked to have an audience with you”

“Where is he now?”

“I’ll take you to him.”

Frigga followed the guard through hallways that seemed to echo only sadness. The trader was waiting patiently in a small room that was not far away.

“What matter do you wish to discuss?”

“I merely wish to deliver a letter.”

“A letter, that is all?”

The trader pulled piece of folded paper out of his bag, her name was spelled out in familiar elegantly curled letters on the front.

“Have a good evening my queen.”

She quickly walked back to the library and sot down in Loki’s corner so she could read the letter in private.

She opened the letter and not only was it from Loki which brought tears of happiness to her eyes but there was also a picture. In the picture Loki was sitting on the floor with his legs crossed and a little white fox was licking his face, for the first time in weeks Frigga laughed.

_Dear Mother_

_I miss you more than Thor missed the training dummy on his first day using Mjöllnir. Remember how it landed somewhere in the mountains and Odin had to go get it. The fox in the picture I sent is Jorin, he belongs to Shanya. She is very kind and is helping me more than you can imagine, more than I can imagine actually.  I’ve only been here for a few days and we have already fought a dragon together, the other day she was actually bragging that I could possibly take down one myself. She is also definitely not afraid of my anger when she rolls me off the bed in the morning. It sounds like we are going on another trip in this morning I don’t know if I am exited or if I wanted to sleep in._

_I just wanted to let you know that I’m okay and no matter what happens I still love you more than anything._

                _Sincerely Loki_

                Frigga was laughing and crying all at once as she held the precious little letter close to her heart.


	17. Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now I am having more problems with the formatting than before. The 'tab'ing is giving me the most problems.

               “Jorin! Stop chasing butterflies and keep up!”

                Jorin was dawdling about thirty yards back and now sprinted back to Shanya’s side. They were now at a town called Rorikstead and there was no snow on the ground, the snow clouds had covered most of Skyrim but it had melted off by now.

               “Okay now if we cut across off-road we can sneak up on the back side of the forsworn camp and take them by surprise. Loki, are you a good climber? There will be some rocky slopes in the way if memory serves right.”

               “If need be."

*             *             *

              “You see that ugly creature over there.”

              “How could I not?”

              “That is a hagraven."

              “It looks like it’s doing something with that dead giant.”

              “If that stone table was any smaller then its feet would hang off the edge.”

              “And your point is?”

              “Did you know that if a deceased person is abnormally tall and can’t afford a custom coffin the… um… whoever it is that takes care of dead bodies, he will cut the deceased person’s feet off.”

              “I think I would have rather not learned that.”

              “Too late now.”

               They were stading on the top edge of a deppression in the land that made up the back end of the camp. The main area of the camp was built over a river and there was a lookout area with a forge at the top of some rock steps. Loki raised the destruction staff that he had bought on the way there and aimed it at the hagraven. In the next instant there was a flash of light and the ugly creature dissappeared in a puff of feathers. They slid down the slope and rushed to the bank of the river before the forsworn figured out what was happening. At the same time Delphine and Esbern appeared at the camp’s entrance.

               One of the Forsworn didn’t have his weapons out yet so Shanya just shoved him into the river. Another one was charging at them but in the next moment he collapsed to the ground with one of Loki’s throwing knives lodged in his throat.

               The Forsworn were beaten down so quickly that Loki was a little dissapointed. They met up with Delphine and esbern at the mouth of a cave.

               “I was just getting warmed up” Loki sighed.

               Shanya burst out in laughter “I’ll take you over to one of the bandit fortresses sometime to give you a little more of a challenge.”

*             *             *

                They had entered a large cavern/room that was missing a large portion of the ceiling and let in natural light. Esbern was talking to Shanya about the blood seal in the middle of the room but Loki was ignoring him, it’s not like he had to pay attention anyway. He picked up a stick and threw it for Jorin who was delighted to give chase.

 

                “Wonderful! Remarkably well-preserved, too. Ah... here's the ‘blood seal.’ Another of the lost Akaviri arts. No doubt triggered by... well, blood. Your blood, Dragonborn."

                “Well let’s not sit here eating glue.”

                Aparrently Delphine was a ‘little’ confused “Sorry, what?”

                “Earth humor is lost on you people.”

                Shanya stood in the middle of the blood seal and used a small knife to slice a cut on the pad of her finger. A drop of blood fell to the floor and the seal started rearranging itself to unlock the door.

                "That's done it! Look, it's coming to life! You did it. There's the entrance! After you, Dragonborn. You should have the honor of being the first to set foot in Sky Haven Temple."

                Now Loki and Jorin had abandoned their game of fetch and everyone was exited to see what lay inside. Shanya practically sprinted up the stairs to stand in front of a great carving etched into the far wall. When Delphine and Esbern entered and lit the pedastals on either side everyone else was forgotton as they talked between themselves.

 

                "Shor's bones! Here it is! Alduin's Wall... so well preserved... I've never seen a finer example of early second era Akaviri sculptural relief..."

                "Esbern. We need information, not a lecture on art history."

                "Yes, yes. Let's see what we have..." Esbern took a moment to gather his thoughts "Look, here is Alduin! This panel goes back to the beginning of time, when Alduin and the Dragon Cult ruled over Skyrim. Here, the humans rebel against their dragon overlords -- the legendary Dragon War. Alduin's defeat is the centerpiece of the Wall. You see, here he is falling from the sky. The Nord Tongues -- masters of the Voice -- are arrayed against him."

                "So, does it show how they defeated him? Isn't that why we're here?"

                "Patience, my dear. The Akaviri were not a straightforward people. Everything is couched in allegory and mythic symbolism. Yes, yes. This here, coming from the mouths of the Nord heroes -- this is the Akaviri symbol for ‘Shout.’ But... there's no way to know what Shout is meant."

                "You mean they used a Shout to defeat Alduin? You're sure?"

                "Hmm? Oh, yes. Presumably something rather specific to dragons, or even Alduin himself. Remember, this is where they recorded all they knew of Alduin and his return."

                "So we're looking for a Shout, then. Damn it."

                At this point Shanya interrupted them “The Greybeards probably know something about that.”

                Delphine seemed a little agitated "You're probably right. I was hoping to avoid having to involve them in this, but it seems we have no choice."

                “Why do you dislike them so much anyway?”

                "If they had their way, you'd do nothing but sit up on their mountain with them and talk to the sky, or whatever it is they do. The Greybeards are so afraid of power that they won't use it.”

                “They probably won’t be too happy with me asking, but I need to go check out something at the College of Winterhold first anyway so I have plenty of time to think about how to ask then.”

                “Whatever it is try to make it quick, we need to stop Alduin as soon as possible.”

*             *             *

                “What is at the college that is so important.”

                “I just want you to be able to meet with other mages that will admire your talents.”

                “What about Alduin.”

                “Don’t worry it is going to take a long time before he will be able to rally his followers and most dragons are so selfish and scatterbrained that they won’t do him much good anyway. We have time for a detour.”

*             *             *

                Harsh snow-clad wind was whipping past the dermined little group of three. They were walking close to the side of a glacier that rose menacingly out of the ice.

                Loki was hit in the head by a fallen piece of ice and was knocked unconcios. When he woke up the weather was starting to calm down. Jorin was yipping at him, happy that he had woken up, but Shanya was nowhere to be found; she had lost them in the blizzard.

                An arrow suddenly sank into the snow next to him, they were under attack. A pained yelp made him look up, Jorin had been hit and was lying flat on the snow. Loki lurched forward and used his own body to shield Jorin from being hit by any more of the arrows that were whizzing past them.The rest were bouncing harmlessly off of Loki’s armor

*             *             *

                Thor had finally got a lead on where Loki was and the blizzard that had covered the whole of Winterhold hold was not going to stop him especially now that it was quickly dying down. He was so close that he could feel the pulse of Loki’s magic, but there was a problem. Up ahead he could see a group of bandits attacking something and he knew by how close his magic was that Loki must be a part of it. But the bandits weren’t under attack themselves, Thor knew his brother and he knew that Loki could easily blast them to bits; something was very wrong.

*             *             *

                Loki nervously looked up, he was surrounded by arrows stuck in the snow but there were no longer any raining on him. His attackers were gone.

                He turned back to Jorin who was quietly wimpering in pain.

                “Don’t worry brave little Jorin” he whispered “I promise I’ll fix this.”

                Loki put his hands around the wound, readying himself to pull it out when he was suddenly yanked backwards and pinned down by a familiar looking boot. Jorin was snarling now, determined to try and protect Loki even after being badly wounded.

                “You sneaky little…”

                “Thor!”

               “No! don’t speak to me, after what you’ve done you have no right!”

              Loki was facing the very thing he had feared for so long, being brought back to Asgard. Yet all he could think about was how Jorin was hoplessly bleeding out and that he needed help.

             “Please” Loki pointed to where Jorin was painting the snow red “he’ll die if you don’t let me help him.”

             “He’s just a fox” Thor snarled back.

             “A what about Jane she’s _just_ a mortal what would you do if something happened to her.”

             Thor took a deep breath to calm himself.

             “You should know that when we fought each other in the past, I did so with a glimmer of hope that my brother was still in there somewhere. That hope no longer exists to protect you.  Any tricks, and I will kill both of you.”

                “Jorin has done nothing to you.”

                “I think he would given the chance.”

                “Afraid of a little fox? Now let me up or this conversation will be the death of him.”

                Thor cautiously removed his foot and Loki scrambled back to Jorin. He grabbed hold of the arrow and carefully pulled it out while using his other had to flood the wound with healing magic. The second Loki was done Jorin jumped into his arms while snarling over his shoulder at Thor.

                Thor turned his head to the sky “Heimdal!”

                They were gone in a blinding flash of light and a little ways off in the distance was Shanya. She stood in horror as Loki was brought back to the very place that she was sure would be the end of him.


End file.
